


Searching Endlessly

by AsagaoSylph



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Cooking Shenanigans, Fighting, Forgiveness, Hurt/Comfort, Keith Misses Him, Lance (Voltron) is Missing, Loneliness, Love, M/M, Making Up, Mental Breakdown, Pidge is bad at feelings, Set in Season 1, Shiro's Mom is an Immigrant, Songfic, Supportive Shiro (Voltron), Team as Family, The Team Will Tear Space and Time Apart to Find Him, apologizing, she's trying, they all are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:01:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21931111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagaoSylph/pseuds/AsagaoSylph
Summary: That was when he heard his teammates’ shouts. They were garbled, all screaming over one another, and the chaos sent a sharp needle of pain through Keith’s head. He winced, slamming his eyes shut and trying to pick out one or two words that might tell him what had just happene—“LANCE!”
Relationships: Hunk & Keith (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro
Comments: 4
Kudos: 125





	Searching Endlessly

“All right team, great work!” Cheered Shiro as new robobeast Haggar had sent after them collapsed in a smoking heap on the ground.

It hadn’t been an easy fight; the weird space-octopus-thing had the ability to hurl swirling orbs of energy from each sucker on its many arms (and a random one on the top of its head that Keith had discovered the hard way when it slid over the skin and nearly blasted him out of the sky) that expanded into small portals and tried to suck in the paladins. It also had psycho thick armor around its center, which, according to Lance, was just overkill.

Hunk and Lance had blasted the suckers to temporarily disable them while Pidge ran calculations on the route Keith needed to take in order to get past a few stray shots, and even with all that, the Red Paladin only got in a glancing blow. The armor was barely dented, and Shiro had called on them to form Voltron.

The sword cleaved through the top of the armor, and Lance managed to knock one of the creature’s legs out from under it. With that angle, Keith and Pidge had finally been able to drive their sword through the monster’s core, and it had flickered like a damaged lightbulb before blinking out entirely, leaving smoke to billow out from the armor. Keith whooped, and Pidge cheered wildly. Shiro chuckled, shaking his head fondly.

“All right team, great work!” He praised as Voltron disbanded and their enemy fell over, the smoke thickening as the armor fell apart.

“Oh man, that was sick!” Cried Hunk.

“Aw man, are you going to have to clean out Yellow again?” Teased Lance, and Hunk’s scowl was practically verbal over the comms.

The team laughed, and Allura’s voice crackled over the comms.

“Well done, paladins! I shall land the Castle of Lions immediately and prepare for contact with the locals! This is an excellent opportunity to expand the Voltron Coalition!”

“Roger that, Princess,” replied Shiro.

Lance stretched in his Lion, drawing his long arms high over his head, and sending a quick _thanks_ to Blue that she was tall enough to accommodate him.

“Man, what are you guys going to do first?” He chirped, the adrenaline still pulsing warmly through his veins. “I’m going to visit the vendors, see if this handsome face of mine can score a few bargains!”

There were the usual groans as Lance framed his face with one hand, a gleam reflecting off his smile, and Shiro chuckled.

“All right kiddo, you can figure that out after our meeting with the leaders.”

“Killjoy,” said Lance with a huge, over-exaggerated sigh and flop of his arms.

Pidge snickered.

“I’m going to check out the technology behind their shield! Pretty cool it held up under so much stress!” She cheered.

“I’m going to sample the food and try to replicate it later!”

“I guess once the meeting’s over, I might check out the clothes they have. We could use some more formal outfits for these ceremonies, and our armor’s a bit clunky.”

“I’m going back to the ship and training.”

Lance groaned at Keith’s answer, and he swore he heard Shiro’s soft sigh filtering through the comms too.

“Mullet, you need to lighten up! Come on, we need to get an idea of the aliens we’re saving, or we won’t have stable long-lasting relations with them!” Pointed out Lance. “What happens if we accidentally offend them? At least get a feel for the customs!”

There was a long silence in response to this, and Lance felt a weird prickle run through his skin. He wasn’t a fan of quiet; he had spent his life enclosed in a warm blanket of noise, whether it be the clang of his mom doing dishes, his older brother cooking, or his little cousins running around screaming, silence had never been a part of his life. He had fought it off at the Garrison too, wearing his headphones everywhere, and Hunk had repeatedly muttered that he would ruin his hearing at this rate. It was better than silence though.

“Guys?”

“That…that was a really good point, actually,” admitted Keith.

“Well said, Lance,” agreed Shiro, and Lance nearly burst at the pride he heard in the older man’s voice.

“Heh, I am quite smooth with the words _and_ with the la—KEITH!” Lance’s scream came just a moment too late, and Keith’s head jerked back towards their fallen foe.

The monster’s smoke was coalescing, wrapping around itself into a sphere, pulses of purple beginning to take over the projectile as it whipped towards Keith. The Red Paladin squawked, snatching at the controls and wrenching Red to the side, away from the orb. It smacked into the mountain behind him, blooming out into a wide, swirling portal. Keith snarled, throwing all his weight against the controls as he felt the suction pull at Red’s paws.

“Keith!” Shrieked Pidge, twisting her lion around and bounding towards her comrade.

“Pidge, wait!” Shouted Shiro, blocking the Green Paladin and turning back towards the Red Lion with tight shoulders. “Keith, can you make it out of there?”

“Shiro, what are you _doing?!_ ” Roared Pidge, practically ramming into the Black Lion as she tried to get to Keith.

“Pidge, don’t come!” Yelled Keith as Red strained futilely against the pull of the portal. “If you come, you’re just going to get sucked in! The Green Lion’s too small for this!”

“I can’t just sit back here while you get sent into quiznak-knows-where!” Shot back Pidge, swiping at Green’s controls and starting to get a rundown on the portal behind Keith.

Who knew, maybe it wasn’t some miniature black hole threatening to crush her comrade into cosmic space dust?

“Keith, can you make it out?!” Shiro’s scream was much more desperate now as he tried to figure out how to drag his pseudo-brother away from the portal without getting caught in it himself.

He wanted to go in, quiznak he was itching to, but he had a duty to fulfill. If the Black Lion got caught, there was zero hope of getting it out again; it was way too large for that. And without the Black Lion, the head of Voltron, everything would fall apart. Or worse, onto the shoulders of these children who still threw glitter bombs at one another and blew bubbles in anything that even vaguely resembled soda. It would crush them.

There had to be another way. “Keith?!”

“Hnnnnnn!” Groaned the Red Paladin in response, his fingers so tight around the controls that they were ripping into the thin black protection on his palms. “Not at this rate, that’s for quiznaking su—”

_CRASH._

The impact hurled Keith out of his seat and sent him skidding across the floor of the cockpit. His head knocked painfully within his helmet, and he slammed into the wall with enough force to shove all the air out of his lungs. He felt Red spiral out of the portal’s vortex, and his Lion roared in a mix of terror and grief that he had never heard before.

That was when he heard his teammates’ shouts. They were garbled, all screaming over one another, and the chaos sent a sharp needle of pain through Keith’s head. He winced, slamming his eyes shut and trying to pick out one or two words that might tell him what had just happene—

“ _LANCE!_ ”

Keith jerked his head up, ignoring the waves of agony that washed over him, and whipped around to gape out the window.

“Lance, get out of there, now!” Screamed Shiro, his Lion physically holding back Green, and Pidge’s shrieking nearly deafening Keith.

“Hang on, I’m coming buddy—”

“Hunk, stay back!” Lance’s shout was fierce, and overpowered the blaring alarms within Blue that the comms carried to the others. “I’m too close, you’d just end up here too!”

“Lance, you can’t just give up—!”

“I’m not going to,” replied Lance, smirking with teeth gritted into one another and eyes wide with a mix of determination, fear, and adrenaline. “I’ll see you guys in a bit, okay? Just gonna take a quick side trip, you know?”

“Lance, what are you saying?!” Screamed Keith, launching himself back into the pilot seat just as Blue’s tail slid into the portal.

“See you soon.”

And just as Keith’s fingers touched the controls, Blue tumbled into the portal, vanishing as if she were a trick of the light and taking her paladin with her.

There was a moment of horrified, uncomprehending silence as the portal swirled in on itself, sealing shut, and Lance’s comm cut off. It was completely silent. Cold, terrified silence.

Then Hunk wailed, high, piercing, and broken as he sobbed uncontrollably. Pidge was screaming, desperately trying to reconnect with Lance’s comm and growing louder with each failed attempt. Shiro’s soft crying was almost entirely hidden by the other two, muffled as he buried his head in his knees. Keith let out a wordless, gut-wrenching roar coated in fire and ringing with the frustration of somebody who hadn’t been able to do anything but stand by as his friend vanished, possibly forever. He hadn’t even been able to see his final finger guns, or his last smile, or even just those impossibly blue eyes one more time—

Keith didn’t stop screaming for a long, long time.

“Why didn’t you let me save him?!” Screeched Pidge the moment the team was back in the Castle of Lions.

The diplomatic meeting had been brief, with Allura skillfully drawing up an agreement in barely four dobashes that all sides found acceptable. The paladins only told her afterwards exactly what that battle had cost them. She had gone completely still, staring at Shiro like he had just grown a third head and swallowing heavily. Then she dashed to the main deck, shouting something about tracking the Blue Lion, and leaving the team, minus one member, staring at one another. Pidge, apparently, had lost all patience by then though.

“I could have gotten him!” She roared, shoving Shiro with more might than her thin, short arms should have. “We should have at least tried! How could you just abandon him like that?! You just let him throw himself into a portal we know nothing about to save Keith because _we didn’t do anything to help either of them!_ ”

“Pidge!” Snarled Keith, stepping between the seething girl and Shiro like a bristling cat. “Shiro did the best he could! What would we do if we had lost you and Lance?! Or you and me?!”

“So what, we just give up without trying because the risks are too high?!” Screamed Pidge, stepping toe-to-toe with Keith. “If we just did that, we wouldn’t even be in this war!”

“Then what would you do?!” Roared Keith, eyes flashing and fists clenching too tightly at his sides. “You’d just get sucked in too?! You couldn’t get either of us out! Shiro saved you!”

“So you’re fine letting Lance go without a fight?!”

“I never said that!”

“Well that’s what just happened!” Exploded Pidge, whipping her arm to the side and looking at Shiro and Keith with fire burning through her irises. “So think about _that_ risk next time you sit by and let a comrade be taken away!”

And, with a final glare like lightning, she stalked out of the room to help Allura find their friend. Keith was sorely tempted to go after her, but Shiro’s voice glued his feet in place.

“Keith. Just let it go.” He sounded somehow firm and…oddly gentle, as if he understood. “Lance is one of her people; she cares about him a lot.”

“But you did the best you could! This isn’t your fault!”

“It’s everyone and no one’s fault,” sighed Shiro. “But that doesn’t matter right now. Lance is gone; that’s what matters.”

Keith seethed, clenching and unclenching his fists as anger blistered through his blood, setting every nerve in his body on fire. Finally, he spun on his heel and stalked from the room, growling as his eyes flashed yellow in the light.

He was going to get Lance back. Period.

_1\. Nexium: Nothing but tall, green hills with strange patterns carved into them.  
2\. Raivetre: Vague mentions of a human in blue that led to the space mall’s Voltron exhibit.  
3\. Yanerk: Nothing but concern over whether Voltron could be formed now._

Keith threw the notebook across the room, letting it smack against the window as he gave a frustrated yell. They had been searching for Lance for almost a full movement now; why weren’t they getting anywhere?! Lance always had such a flair for dramatics, he should be easy to find!

And they really had to find him soon. Regardless of forming Voltron, his teammates couldn’t keep going like this much longer. Pidge had retreated to her room after her initial outburst, only coming out for missions and informational meetings. She didn’t even show up for dinner anymore. Hunk spent all his time in the kitchen or refining his lion, and couldn’t even pass Lance’s room without a wave of guilt consuming his face. His food had been saltier than usual. Shiro and Allura lived on the observation deck, scanning for the Blue Lion and trying to juggle a thousand requests for aid. They hadn’t been sleeping much. Coran cleaned every wall in the Castle, and sat in Lance’s room with his head in his hands as if unable to touch anything there. He hadn’t smiled a lot. And Keith? Keith researched everything he could about what those orbs might have been, where Lance could be, and how to re-establish a link through their helmets. It was like Shiro all over again. Somehow, even in the Castle of Lions and surrounded by his team, he felt lost and alone.

_1\. Nexium: Nothing but tall, green hills with strange patterns carved into them.  
2\. Raivetre: Vague mentions of a human in blue that led to the space mall’s Voltron exhibit.  
3\. Yanerk: Nothing but concern over whether Voltron could be formed now.  
4\. Julzels: A promise to help in every way possible to find the missing paladin.  
5\. Uerzao: A loud clammer for signatures from the brave paladins of Voltron._

Keith woke up to crying. The sniffled, bursting crying of someone who didn’t want anyone to know they were falling apart at the seams. He knew that kind of crying very, very well.

“Pidge?” Called Keith softly, stepping out of his room with his robe clenched tightly around him to hide from the biting cold.

What he saw turned his blood to ice, regardless of any robe.

Pidge was curled around herself, computer next to her as if it had been slammed down, and back to Lance’s door. The door that hadn’t been opened by its occupant in almost two movements. That was just a recipe for guilt.

“Pidge, you should sleep,” said Keith clumsily, hoping it came out soft as he took a tentative step towards their Green Paladin.

She didn’t look at him.

“........screwed up.”

“What?”

“I screwed up!” Burst out Pidge, tightening around herself like a snake even as her shoulders shook. “I yelled at Shiro and now he thinks it’s his fault and he’s not getting any sleep and I can’t even look him in the eye and—no one knows where Lance _is_ or if he’s even _alive_ and it’s like Matt and Dad all over again and—!” A choked sob tried to interrupt her, but Pidge’s grief kept going. “—and no one has a clue what to do anymore and we can’t form Voltron and—and we’re all _falling apart_ and I _can’t do anything to stop it!_ ”

The last part came out as a broken scream, bouncing off the palace walls as Pidge fell to pieces, sobs wracking her small body and breaths coming out as panicked, choking gasps. Keith felt his heart fracture.

“Pidge,” he whispered, kneeling beside her as doors swished open around him. “Pidge, it…it’s going to be okay. Lance is our sharpshooter, remember? He’s going to be fine, and…” Keith trailed off, trying to find the right words, but gulped fiercely even when they didn’t come to him. “And! He’ll probably…have like thirty space stories to tell when he gets back.”

A hand dropped gently onto Pidge’s head, and Shiro crouched in front of the tiny girl as Hunk hovered in helpless concern a few steps away.

“Pidge, you’re fine,” promised Shiro gently. “I’m not mad, and I’m not hurt. Believe me, I understand the urge to blame everyone when someone you love is taken from you. When my mom was nearly deported on false charges, did you know I lashed out at my teachers? Even though they had nothing to do with the whole situation? I was mad that I had been at school when ICE came, and felt like it was somehow my teachers’ faults for keeping me away, even when I probably couldn’t have done anything to help. So, believe me, I get it. I’m not angry.”

“......s’not your fault…!”

Shiro chuckled, pulling Pidge into a hug and rubbing circles into her back gently, rocking the crying girl back and forth slowly.

“I know. I know, shhhhhh. We’re going to be okay.”

Keith smiled, reaching out to Hunk and patting the confused, sleep-deprived Yellow Paladin reassuringly.

“I think Shiro’s got this, big guy. Hey, do you want me to help you cook sometime? Just, like, prep work or something?”

Hunk glanced in concern at the trembling lump of Pidge, but Shiro was whispering soothing promises to her, and much of the desperation that had been pouring off her when Keith had first arrived was gone. So, slowly, he nodded.

“Yeah, sure. That….that sounds good.”

They had to last. Until Lance came back, they had to make it. He deserved a whole space family to return to, after all.

_1\. Nexium: Nothing but tall, green hills with strange patterns carved into them.  
2\. Raivetre: Vague mentions of a human in blue that led to the space mall’s Voltron exhibit.  
3\. Yanerk: Nothing but concern over whether Voltron could be formed now.  
4\. Julzels: A promise to help in every way possible to find the missing paladin.  
5\. Uerzao: A loud clammer for signatures from the brave paladins of Voltron.  
6\. Herqaina: Rumors of planets to the west being freed by a blue human._

“Keith, it’s juST A ERFZI! DO NOT USE YOUR BAYARD TO DICE IT!” Cried Hunk, dragging Keith and his giant sword away from the small purple cylinder that was maybe as tough as a carrot.

Keith slumped in Hunk’s grip, folding his arms and attempting to scowl. It came off as more of a pout than anything else.

“It would make a clean cut,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, right through the table!” Retorted Hunk, shaking his head in exasperation; how had Keith survived that many months alone in the desert?

“Oh, would you rather Pidge help you?” Asked Keith sarcastically, and Hunk groaned in resignation; no matter how bad Keith was, Pidge was worse.

After Pidge’s outburst a few quintants ago, the crew had made an effort to rally themselves. They had some movie nights, freed a couple planets, and ate together at dinner. Sure, the jokes and conversations weren’t as funny or lively without Lance, but they were pulling together now instead of yanking themselves apart. Hunk had stopped crying alone in the kitchen, welcoming Keith’s company even with his bayard in tow. Pidge, Shiro, and Allura had begun collaborating in their attempts to find Lance, and Coran would push/drag/carry them all off to sleep if it got too late. Keith moved between helping to locate Lance with the others, training by himself, and helping (?) Hunk with cooking. He didn’t want Lance to come home to the scattered remains of their little space family. And, finally, it really looked like they might be able to bring him home. It brought an extra shine to the whole ship.

“Keith, no! Use a normal knife!”

“ _I will win!_ ”

“Win what? Keith, bud, you’re scaring me! HEY, STOP THAT!”

_1\. Nexium: Nothing but tall, green hills with strange patterns carved into them.  
2\. Raivetre: Vague mentions of a human in blue that led to the space mall’s Voltron exhibit.  
3\. Yanerk: Nothing but concern over whether Voltron could be formed now.  
4\. Julzels: A promise to help in every way possible to find the missing paladin.  
5\. Uerzao: A loud clammer for signatures from the brave paladins of Voltron.  
6\. Herqaina: Rumors of planets to the west being freed by a blue human.  
7\. Defvesky: Assurances that the Blue Paladin had been there, but had left a few quintants after liberating them to help with refugees.  
8\. Lafenhro: Nothing._

Keith was practically vibrating in his seat, staring at the stage in front of him like it was about to explode with holy fire or something. Pidge had managed to talk to some rebels they had run into on Defvesky one more time, and they had revealed an outpost on a small moon just off Lafenhro where missing aliens sometimes delivered coded messages or songs for their families or teams while in disguise. Pidge had rocketed out of her seat when she heard that, dashing to the team so fast she almost twisted her ankle over a wrench left lying around. Keith didn’t think the Lions had ever moved faster than they did to that moon. Even Allura and Coran had come, insisting that they could leave the Castle of Lions for just a little while to find Lance. Shiro couldn’t find it in himself to protest.

The team found a table close to the stage and got mineral water, biting their lips and holding their breath as a common hope sparked through all of them. Lance loved songs more than anything else and he had a fantastic voice. He had, at one point, dragged the entire team into singing _High Hopes_ , which he was quite proud of himself for. Not to mention, he had plenty of songs that he sung specifically with different members of the crew. He and Hunk had a million choreographed dances, Pidge shared his love for Panic! At The Disco, OneRepublic, and Imagine Dragons, and Shiro was the only one who recognized his weird Coldplay references. Lance had taught Allura and Coran almost all the songs in _Hamilton_ and _In The Heights_ by now, and he had even managed to find a song that Keith appreciated. There was no better place to leave a message for his team.

A large pile of blue sludge stepped on stage and started rapping.

A green, multi-eyed cat sang the sweetest poem any of them had ever heard.

A tiny white cube made a series of high-pitched shrieks that nearly sent blood spurting from the entire audience’s ears.

A pile of roots and twigs launched into a cringe-worthy attempt at rhyming.

A lion with boots and a unicorn horn on its forehead trilled a little ditty about love.

A human-esque form in a cape came on stage. Keith’s heart nearly exploded when they opened their mouth.

They didn’t speak. Simply stood there, mouth open, perfectly silent, and exited. Allura guessed it was a telepathic alien.

After six vargas of messages, Keith was slumped onto the table, groaning as his chest clenched painfully. Pidge’s hazel eyes were fixed on her untouched drink, disappointment set in her lips, and shoulders tight as if in pain. Allura’s fists were tight around her skirt, teeth gritted together to hold back a scream. Coran’s eyes were fixed on the stage with a kind of mad hope, but his hands were limp with despair. Hunk’s face was hidden in Shiro’s shoulder, and the older paladin had his eyes closed to hide the shimmer of tears.

When they went home that night, Lance wasn’t with them.

Keith didn’t say a word to any of them. The moment they landed, he stalked to the observation deck and flopped on the ground, staring out at the stars like he had seen Lance do so many times. He waited until the castle lights dimmed, until they were dark enough to indicate nighttime, until he heard swishing doors and the muted _good nights_ of his team. He waited for complete silence.

Then he broke.

“ _Please_ , Lance,” he begged, choking on tears, “please come back. We need you. Quiznak, you _complete idiot—_ ” his voice fractured, his shoulders heaved, “—you have no idea…! _You don’t even—!_ ”

Keith wrapped his arms around his middle and muffled his scream into his pants, bending over until his forehead touched the ground.

He just wanted his friend back. It had been almost three movements; he just wanted Lance back!

So why?

Why was there still an empty chair beside him at breakfast?!

Keith screamed until no sound came out, and then he kept screaming, silent tears tearing down his cheeks and nails biting into his palms as the night swallowed his grief up into the despairing air that had settled over the Castle since it had lost its heart.

The team found Keith asleep on the observation deck the next morning, curled around himself, tear streaks covering his face, and eyes squeezed shut as if in pain. Shiro carried him to his own bedroom. Training was called off for the day.

They watched Keith’s favorite movie that night, wrapping the Red Paladin up into a blanket burrito, and trapping his spent, limp body in a pile of hugs.

“We’ve got you, Keith,” whispered Pidge. “We’re family, you know. We’ll get through this together.”

Keith bent forwards, tears running silently down his cheeks, and slowly nodded.

Shiro ruffled his hair.

Hunk hugged him until he almost couldn’t breathe.

Pidge passed him some space pastries.

Allura whispered careful, unspeakably kind assurances.

Coran made jokes he only half-understood.

And, by the time the movie finally ended, a small, sweet, loving smile was settled firmly on Keith’s lips.

_1\. Nexium: Nothing but tall, green hills with strange patterns carved into them.  
2\. Raivetre: Vague mentions of a human in blue that led to the space mall’s Voltron exhibit.  
3\. Yanerk: Nothing but concern over whether Voltron could be formed now.  
4\. Julzels: A promise to help in every way possible to find the missing paladin.  
5\. Uerzao: A loud clammer for signatures from the brave paladins of Voltron.  
6\. Herqaina: Rumors of planets to the west being freed by a blue human.  
7\. Defvesky: Assurances that the Blue Paladin had been there, but had left a few quintants after liberating them to help with refugees.  
8\. Lafenhro: Nothing.  
9\. Invenyai: Reports of a blue lion helping the rebels free the planet._

Keith and the group sat at another outpost just off of Invenyai where coded messages were passed between rebels via song. Hunk and Pidge were on either side of Keith, pressed against him supportively, and Shiro had a hand on Allura’s shoulder. She smiled gently, placing a hand on his knee, and Coran sat right between the two groups, providing a sort of bridge between bubbles of comfort. None of them so much as breathed.

A cactus-looking thing sang about heartbreak.

A scarred yellow frog apparently made a sound above human hearing.

A armor-laden warrior picked up the microphone.

“Oh, his eyes, his eyes make the stars look like they’re not shining,

His hair, his hair falls perfectly without him tryin’.

He’s so beautiful. And I tell him everyday.”

“Uh, uh,” whispered Keith, rising slowly, never once taking his eyes off the stage as his voice started to grow. “I was thinkin’ bout him, thinkin’ bout me, thinkin’ bout us, who we gonna be—”

“Keith, what are you doing?!” Hissed Pidge, but the singer on stage didn’t falter for half a second as Keith joined in, singing a steady _I know, I know, when I compliment him, he won't believe me._

So Keith responded in kind, though his voice was almost too breathy to understand right then.

“Opened my eyes, and it was only just a dream….”

Because if this was him, if this _really was him_ , then instead of all the hundreds of songs he shared with Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Allura, and Coran, he had chosen the one, single song that he knew Keith liked. The only one they could agree on.

“But every time he asks me ‘do I look okay’ you know I’ll say,” sang the warrior, voice sweet and mellow as the sun over a beach in midsummer.

“It was only just a dream….” breathed Keith, because it sure felt like that right then.

And then both of them exploded at the same time.

“When I see your face—!” Cried the warrior as they began to pull at their mask, trying to yank it off.

“So I traveled back down that road! Will he come back? No one knows—!” Shrieked Keith, clambering away from Hunk and Pidge, and diving through rows of tables towards the stage.

“There’s not a thing that I would change—!” Choked the warrior, voice splintering as they tore off their useless, metal-clad gloves.

“I realized, it was only just a dream—!” Sang Keith, sprinting up the stairs off to the side and shoving away a security guard who tried to cut him off, barely breaking his stride.

“Cause you’re amazing, just the way you are!” Replied Lance, ripping off his mask and hurling it as far from him as humanly possible.

“It was only just a dream!”

Except it wasn’t.

Hunk and Pidge shrieked, flying from their seats and making a beeline for the stage. Shiro, Allura, and Coran were barely half a second behind them, still singing as they ran, allowing Keith and Lance to remain in their moment of unspeakable relief, warmth, and love, even with rivers coursing down their cheeks and freezing their vocal cords.

“When I see your face—”

Keith flew across the stage, tears whipping from the corners of his eyes, footsteps matching Lance’s.

“So I traveled back down that road. Will he come back? No one knows—”

Lance let out a broken sob as Keith dove into his arms, clutching his fellow paladin so tightly both forgot how to breathe. His tears lingered in the air as the two of them fell, holding on to each other as if they would never let go. Never again.

“There’s not a thing that I would change—”

Pidge tackled the two teens, wrapping her arms around their necks and burying her head in their shoulders, cries wrenching at her song.

“I realized, it was only just a dream—”

Hunk threw himself to his knees beside them, squashing the entire group in his hug as he bawled out half-intelligible words of relief that, finally, his best friend was back with him again.

“Cause you’re amazing, just the way you are.”

Shiro trapped Pidge and Lance in his arms, tears streaming down his face and quiet whispers of _thank god_ not quite muffled by Lance’s intricate outfit.

“It was only just a dream!”

Allura swooped in, throwing her arms around Hunk and Lance, spluttering choked words until she finally just dropped her head onto Lance’s shoulder and wept with a mix of deep gratitude and unutterable relief.

“When I see your face!”

Coran pounced from behind, trapping Allura and Shiro in his arms and resting his chin atop Lance’s head.

“Welcome home, my boy,” he managed to whisper between tears.

“Face….” Half-whispered, half-wept the whole team, and even though their voices were cracked and fragmented, they still managed to somehow harmonize.

“I’m home,” sobbed Lance, face buried in Keith’s shoulder and arms tight around the shorter boy as he leaned into the team’s embrace.

“You’d better be!” Choked out Keith, fingers twisted in Lance’s absurd cloak, and he raised his head just enough to meet the overflowing ocean of Lance’s eyes. “You’d better be, you idiot…!”

Lance flew the team home in Blue, explaining to a furiously weeping Hunk that he had been trying to find them, which was why he kept following distress signals. He figured if he went where help was needed, then Voltron would eventually show up. He just ended up hopping between signals too fast. Hunk also promised to look at his communications system when they got back; everything on that front had been irreparable since the weird portal thing, which had apparently spit him out a few solar systems away and straight into a firefight with Zarkon. Lance had, in his own words, _noped_ right out of there after nearly getting captured, and managed to wreak havoc on Zarkon’s personal army in the process. But, most importantly to all of them, Lance had escaped. He was alive. And he was back with them.

The moment they disembarked at the Castle, Shiro declared that they were having a group sleepover, and they needed all hands on deck. Hunk grabbed/made them all snacks, Pidge snagged the Earth movies she had found at the mall, Allura provided Altean films, Coran managed to set the ship to alert them only if there was an immediate threat, Shiro flew out and get decent beverages (“no Coran, I did not get nunvil!”), and Keith helped Lance build a blanket fortress. Keith was pretty sure the only reason he was told to do this was so he wouldn’t skewer Shiro later for separating him from Lance after finally getting him back. Still, he set to the task with energy, and Lance clearly had plenty of experience, so the two of them ended up building the demiurge of all blanket forts. Hey, no one was complaining.

They put on Lance’s favorite ( _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_ ) kicked back with a plate of cookies that tasted like an odd mix of cinnamon and rose, and crawled into the magnificent, multi-colored blanket fortress. Then they buried Lance in hugs, and he started crying again, setting all of them off, and forcing Allura to pause the movie long enough for everyone to recover themselves. Because, while they had all been there to pick up one another’s pieces during those three movements, Lance had spent the whole time by himself with no way to contact the team or any other form of support. He had been desperately trying to find them all by himself, probably singing until his voice gave out trying to drive away the silence and the pervasive fear that he would lose his family again. He had waited, longed, so wholeheartedly for where he was now, how could he do anything else but hold them tight and cry?

“I love you guys,” he whispered as they started the movie again.

Keith curled around him a little tighter and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

“We love you too, Lance.”

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!
> 
> I promise Season 7 is nearly done! Just a couple more chapters, so have another old work! *Throws it and runs*  
> My tumblr is at https://asagaosylph.tumblr.com/ :D


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